Return of the Mack

The 13-month sentence has officially been served: Ohio State is bowl-eligible once again.

The prison gates were unlatched the moment Alabama finished violating Notre Dame's dignity in Miami. Your Buckeyes were the only FBS team without any blemishes for the 2012 season. The reward for Urban Meyer's perfect rebuilding season: A #3 ranking in the final AP poll.

But let's cut straight to the real winners (yes, plural) from last night's festivities: The first is obviously Alabama, deep in the pleasure-throes of a formidable dynasty.

The Crimson Tide attracts all of the coveted high school prospects, keeps the good ones while scuttling the rest, then expertly coaches up what's remaining while sparing no expense to producing a winner. A proven and bundled approach to winning: It's not one thing they do; it's everything.

Alabama gets a pass for losing home games to underdogs in each of the past two Novembers, and rightfully so: It's not as though it has failed to make the electorate whole on its reprieves. Second chances in college football aren't evil, especially when they're not willfully snatched away by anyone else.

The other winner last night wasn't your free-on-bond Buckeyes, though they're trending exactly as you would have hoped just one season removed from the worst year ever. It was the team with the shiny helmets and the enormous following that was on the receiving end of Alabama's humiliation stick.

Notre Dame is back to its standard-definition must-see-TV form, delicately stepping over the Navys of the world instead of repeatedly tripping on them. Prior to this season the Irish were so mediocre they couldn't begin to exploit the BCS rules gerrymandered deliberately to give them easier access to bigger stages.

As Jim Delany would sneer, "it's the television property, stupid." Notre Dame simply doesn't have to be as charming as other programs to gain access to the champagne room, and you can thank a whole bunch of dead guys who wore leather helmets for that permanent advantage.

The Fighting Irish who are still alive have now been outscored 158-57 in four holistically atrocious BCS bowl appearances, with the top defensive performance coming against Jim Tressel's field goal-loving offense in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl – in which a school-record 617 yards were allowed nonetheless.

To its credit, the Irish beat an eventually good-but-stumbling Stanford team that had just lost to Washington during its only period of vulnerability. But an undefeated season is still flawless; the rest is just details.

There were comparisons of Notre Dame's uninspiring perfection to that of Ohio State's 14-0 run in 2002, which included wins over nine-win Texas Tech, 10-win Washington State, 10-win Michigan, nine-win* Penn State, 34-consecutive wins Miami and yes it was easily the laziest narrative of the entire college football season, which is perfect for nearly every favorable narrative applied to Notre Dame football over the past two decades.

This year's Buckeyes also won all of the games on their schedule, though safely within the comforting shadow that comes from lacking any postseason consequences. They'll be back in eight months with a slate that currently appears to make this year's devalued Irish opponentry look almost gauntlet-ish.

Look at this photograph | Every time I look it makes me laugh

When the season begins Ohio State will be in the same velvet-roped holding room as the Irish to play the SEC champion in the final edition of the current two-party title system. And that's why Notre Dame won last night, despite all the blood and guts: It's back.

They're back because the Irish are not the only previously unblemished squad to be drawn and quartered on the BCS big stage. Speaking of abominable horrors, you might be wondering if Ohio State gained the same benefit from just having reached the final game.

If you dismiss the Buckeyes' six* BCS victories, that would be a valid theory – alas, we're all forced to use the same facts. The BCS bowl-winningest program doesn't benefit from the same gerrymandered rulebook as Notre Dame does, but its reputation is increasingly burdened by increasingly selective memories.

What Ohio State does benefit from is from owning an unremarkable conference that's not terribly dissimilar from the SEC's bottom 75%. It also now has a coach that the media – outside of a few human sanitary napkins masquerading as columnists in Florida – doesn't resent as much as its last one.

Alabama's pleasure-throes aren't exclusive to Tuscaloosa. After one hideous year being shamed, Columbus has its own burgeoning joyful noise again.

But so does South Bend (and New York City, and every other ND enclave). Notre Dame's 2013 schedule is fortified with intrigue and the program now has the inertia from 2012 to carry it into the conversation for at least three seasons.

Brian Kelly appears to be recruiting at a championship level, but grade inflation is always a conundrum with the Irish. Its postseason destination hasn't been the only thing prone to receiving a generous curve.

So while losing in that gruesome manner will sting for a while, reaching the BCS title game – without even having to exploit the rule named after it – made the Irish a winner prior to kickoff.

The Buckeyes' sentence was only 13 months. Notre Dame has been in purgatory much longer than that. Voters, ranking formulas and especially television executives will be happy to grant them penance for what they delivered in 2012 despite what happened in Miami in early 2013.

After all, losing to Alabama in its current form is one of the more forgivable sins in college football.

Comments

It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame can stay relevant and compete for national titles for the next few years. Under Charlie Weis, the program looked to be back and we all remember what happened with him. I think that Brian Kelly is a better coach than Weis (obvious comment, I know), and their recruiting has been good enough to stay competitive. I guess only time will tell.

I don't see a whole lot of difference between their program right now and when Weiss had them playing pretty well though. I kind of want them to make a couple more high profile bowls the next few seasons so they get blasted. Then they will be the one getting the treatment the Buckeyes got after the back to back debacles in the title game and the losses to USC.

Your comment about Notre Dame in bowls is a valid one. As Ramzy mentioned, Notre Dame is able to reach the BCS and other marquee bowl games easier than other teams because of their history and reputation. This usually leads to them playing against superior teams in their bowl games, usually ending with results like last night. I think it's fair to say they need to prove that they can win those games to truly be back among the national elite. I can't even remember their last decent bowl win.

Plus...can't we say Brian Kelly is 0-2 in BCS games? Being hired by Notre Dame doesn't count as absolution for the 2010 Sugar Bowl shit-housing his Bearcats received from another SEC opponent, UFM's Florida Gators.

People forget how the refs basically handed Notre Dame the game against Stanford. I refuse to believe that the running back didn't get in the end zone, and think that anyone with eyes not named Lou Holtz would agree. An undefeated season takes a ton of luck, but that game should have an asterisk with it as well.

I have a friend who lives and dies with Notre Dame football (mostly dies), but during the game I was texting him and letting him know that as a Buckeye fan who suffered through those 2 NCG losses, I can certainly feel his pain. But of course I also let him know that this time I was pretty glad it was his team and not mine getting destroyed.

none; what was the backlash for losing to us or LSU?
Where is the backlash for Oklahoma? We are the main ones on the receiving end. I am pretty sure last night/ this morning the "Did you know" on ESPN mobile under the Bama headlines was the B1G being 1- 9 in the last 10 Rose Bowls and 4-19 or something on January 1st in the last few years. Was I hallucinating?

It wasn't just the 2006 and 2007 NC games, it was also the utter humiliation at the Coliseum in 2008, and the subsequent home loss in 2009, which produced this article, frequently linked to this day:http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Deconstructi...
The win against Oregon restored some of the credibility, but the win against Arkansas already had the pall of tattoos over it.

I am not going to rip (anymore) on ND; I liked them a bit as a kid, but after the 95 game, I lost all love for them. Ron Powlus ruined them for me.

Riddle me this, if all these programs are recruiting top 10 classes every year, why are there only 2-3 programs consistently winning the title, and those 3 (Fla under UM, LSU and Bama) dominating everyone else? Something other than over signing and coaches pay. What's the answer? Are they just that much better developing their players? Really astounded.

I buy the implication that Urban and Saban are minor coaching deities, but $Cam Newton? He was a REALLY good college player, but he was just one player. If memory serves, that Auburn team had at least one superstud on defense as well.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. The only answer I can come up with is Florida (under Urban) LSU and Bama recruit very well, have great coaches and formulate (Les Miles excluded) great game plans that the players execute.

Don't forget that the two titles Miles won were:
1) So convincing the AP split from the BCS and gave it's title to USC
2) Came in the worst college football year ever. A two loss team beating a one loss team? Weak.

Those recruiting numbers are done by sports writers. Urban looks at film and games to evaluate players. There were players high on his list before they received national recognition. I have complete faith in the way Urban does his recruiting. The only thing that I differ a little is the number of Ohio players Urban recruits. I would like to see more but Urban has a plan to win a NC so I have to respect his decisions.

I felt a little bad for Notre Dame fans (it was hard to watch that game and not think of OSU-Florida). Then, I saw the response from most of the Notre Dame fans I know seemed to fall under saying:
A) Mocking the quality of education at Alabama and that any Notre Dame grad was worth 10 Alabama grads.
B) Bringing up that at least their program isn't filled with the "thugs" and "criminals" you see at Ohio State and USC.
C) Alabama cheats
And I remembered why I dislike Notre Dame fans to begin with, and went on with my day.

Oklahoma is 1-3, including back to back losses in 04-05, in NCGs and 3-5 in BCS games over the same period as the Buckeyes 6-3* record. Very little backlash on OU/Stoops compared to the crap the Bucks get. Bias, what bias?

I think this is just your own personal bias. Very little backlash against OU/Stoops? They're nearly synonymous with "giant letdown" at this point. There was even talk that Bob can't win without Mike coaching defense for him. I don't know what happens to that talk now that they've had their worst season in however long with Mike back coaching defense.

All of this wickedly funny Notre Dame bashing. You fellows really know how to make a guy feel right at home.
For my part, I am upvoting my friend Denny for recognizing Freekbass in Ramzy's historic collage:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6mE9Au3CwM
Touchdown. Geeezus.

I still say it's gonna be The Li"l 13 and Us,with the new proposed recruiting rules TOSU and ND are the only programs hereabouts that will spend the cash to compete with the real major league football skus.If they approve unlimited calls from the middle of the sophmore season, The Li'l 13 won't spend enough to pay the free long distance bill to stay competitive in this new paradigm.GO BUCKS!

What Ohio State does benefit from is from owning an unremarkable conference that's not terribly dissimilar from the SEC's bottom 75%. It also now has a coach that the media – outside of a few human sanitary napkins masquerading as columnists in Florida – doesn't resent as much as its last one.

Thank you for this beautifully crafted paragraph - particularly that last sentence.

"Do not pass me, just slow down - I can move right through you" Superchunk - Precision Auto.

"The Crimson Tide attracts all of the coveted high school prospects, keeps the good ones while scuttling the rest"

Really Ramzy? Like clockwork, the cries about oversigning spring up again. The thing is, I've never seen a former player say he was cut from Bama - quite the opposite, in fact. If you think they are somehow influencing these former players to only say nice things after being screwed over, where are the similar questions concerning the 16 scholarship players that have left OSU since Meyer took over (making room for much of the excellent classes he has put together) just 13 months ago?

How about we accept that attrition happens everywhere and stop trying to lessen other team's accomplishments with baseless accusations?

So you can produce 3 players, all of whom were injured, who say that they were encouraged (not forced) to take a medical hardship. Isn't that what it's for?
Here are quotes about those three players from the article:
" Mr. Kirschman said the decision to take the medical scholarship was ultimately his"

" In some cases, the players who took these scholarships say they didn't feel pressured. Charles Hoke, a former Alabama offensive lineman who took a medical scholarship in 2008 because of a shoulder problem, said the choice was left entirely up to him and was based on the many conversations he had with the team's doctors and trainers over the course of his junior year."

" Mr. Griffin said that he was surprised last month when the football staff told him he had failed a physical...Mr. Griffin said he doesn't contest the results of the physical and said it was "basically my decision" to forgo the rest of his playing career."

These are the only players mentioned in the article. Which one was cut?

Iam asking for something a little more direct. Like this, " [James] Jackson, a wide receiver, says he was asked to transfer after last season, two years into his college career.

"They had an oversigning issue," Jackson said. "They had to free up a few scholarships, and coach (Jim) Tressel told me I probably wouldn't play and maybe Ohio State wasn't the place for me."

Or, if you prefer the medical hardship route, how about someone who says something like this:
" After the 2008 season, Thomas says he was told he had to “move on” because he wasn’t in the team’s plans for 2009.

“I told (Meyer) I was on track to graduate, I wasn’t a problem and I did everything I was supposed to do—I just had a knee injury,” Thomas said. “I told them I wasn’t leaving, and if they tried to force me to leave, I was going to tell everyone everything."

The next day, Thomas says he was given a medical hardship letter by position coach Chuck Heater..."

Ohio State under Tressel never once got through a National Signing Day with more than 85 players including those who just signed. They would lose a few players over the summer inevitably and Tressel annually would give those scholarships to senior walk-ons in August, most of whom rarely if ever see the field in their entire careers. You know, like James Jackson, who left in June - when Ohio State was already at 83 scholarships.

After signing day in 2011 Alabama and LSU were at 189 scholarship players, combined. So between February and kickoff they were relying on 19 guys to leave - that's almost an entire recruiting class. And how about that - exactly 19 guys left. That's impressive forecasting.

You're like the guy who says steroids didn't help Barry Bonds. Fine. Then why take them? If oversigning is a non-issue, then Alabama should be just fine with 85ish scholarships on the first Wednesday of February. If they drop below 85 for whatever reason, reward a walk-on.

Barry Bonds was already a good baseball player. Alabama is already a powerhouse. Steroids made BB even better, and oversigning players could not possibly have a negative impact on Alabama's depth. It can only help it.

Ohio State under Tressel never once got through a National Signing Day with more than 85 players including those who just signed

Except 2011. Per oversigning.com, they were over by 2 on NSD with another offer out to Sentrel Henderson. One of those spots was explained as coming from a returning walk-on who was given a scholarship the year before (something the author was later very critical of Spurrier for doing to Bryce Sherman). The other was greyshirt Cardale Jones. Again, not being critical, just pointing it out.http://oversigning.com/testing/index.php/the-oversigning-cup/
Is it really too much to ask of Saban to know who is leaving? Like most coaches, he sits down with every player after the season and they discuss where they stand and what their future at the program looks like. Eventual transfers are often discussed on fan sites well before it is announced - do you really think Saban wouldn't be more informed than these? Also, why does OSU have a proportionally higher attrition rate in Dec and Jan? You ever notice that? It seems that oversigning teams announce very few transfers early in the year. Perhaps they just wait to say who is leaving until they actually do - and since their scholarships are usually good through the end of the academic year, why not allow them to use it without having the "transfer" tag applied the whole spring?
Like I said, I'm not the one accusing anyone of screwing anyone over so you don't have to justify OSU's attrition to me. It is funny though - how many articles over the last couple of years have been written lamenting how many players Saban has signed over the previous 5 years? I've seen them referenced here before if I'm not mistaken. How many of these mentioned that Saban was newly hired at the beginning of the accounting period? How many mentioned that Bama had a rather large shortage of scholarship players, in part due to previous NCAA mandated scholarship reductions greater than what OSU has now? I for one have never seen it mentioned. We can all make excuses for attrition - and it's usually fair to do so, but if you're going to do so for your own team's, you should allow for it elsewere as well. Unless you're more interested in creating an issue than an honest discussion, which you don't seem to be in your other writings.

Putting a player on medical hardship has been accused by some fanbases of being used as a loophole in the system by some programs to free up scholarships for bloated recruiting classes, but that is not the case with McVey and Fellows at Ohio State.

There, I fixed that for them. Now it's more accurate.
And I didn't say that they were. My point was that maybe Tressel didn't use medicals as much as he could have, so when Meyer came on he was able to bring on more recruits by moving 3* guys that were injured to medicals. The same could be said of Saban when he arrived, which was when most of the medicals that he came under fire for came from.
*this is most likely actually 4 as Jamie Wood left earlier this year (his 3rd) due to shoulder problems. He was set to graduate in Dec, but has said that he wants to come back as a GA, but nothing has come out officially - which is more often the case with injuries than you would know. This is the same thing Saban did with some of the guys that went on medicals at Bama.

I think you mean Darrington Sentimore. He transferred after being suspended at Bama for violating team rules. Yes, he doesn't like Saban personally, but didn't say anything about being cut from the team, rather that they had a conflict of personalities. Here are some quotes from that story:

""He was a good player when he was here," Saban said Monday. "We're happy he's doing a good job and having success. I hope he's doing what he needs to do off the field, in school. His problems here were not relative to being a football player. It had nothing to do with pass rush or sacks, or any of that."

"I think he learned a lot of lessons from his time at Alabama. I think Darrington will be the first to tell you he made a lot of mistakes that he wishes he didn't make. He probably could have had success there like he's having here had he made a lot better personal choices." - Derek Dooley

"I like him, but I wasn't wanting to be under him," Sentimore said. "I just wouldn't rather be under him.
"With some players, he'll see you in the hallway and he'll just walk right past you like he doesn't see you. I don't like stuff like that."

Bucksfan, you've been critical of me several times now, but you've ignored the actual issue. Feel free to correct me. Offer an example of a player that says he was cut from Bama. Even the WSJ article Ramzy linked to, though it accuses Bama of doing those things, cannot provide such quotes. Oversigning.com, with all it's vast library of accusations against Saban does not have a single quote from a former player backing up what he says. Earlier in this thread, I've provided two such quotes from former players of OSU and Meyer (while at Florida), so I'll ask again - If Bama is cutting so many players so ruthlessly, why are there no testimonies to that effect from former players when there are at least two from these other teams that we both acknowledge (probably) treat their players fine.
Take your focus off of me and actually think about what I'm saying and what you are accusing.

Daryl Collins.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/02/04/saban...
But the problem isn't that I and others have given you numerous examples. It's the fact that you attempt to disqualify or argue each little individual example until it suits your distorted view of "everyone does it so it's okay." You choose to ignore that these incidents, when taken together, are not isolated incidents at Alabama. They are the way Saban does things.

No. the problem is that I have asked for examples of players that have been cut per the criticism of oversigning, and you provide a player who never played for Bama and in fact signed with another team. If you want to criticize Saban for waiting until a month before NSD to tell the kid that they wanted him to greyshirt, that's fair but it's not oversigning (and since the kid was able to sign with another SEC school that may be a difficult argument as well). Even the author at oversigning.com has repeatedly said that as long as the player knows before NSD that his offer may be a greyshirt it is ok by him and he's a huge critic.
The problem is that people like you criticize Saban for cutting kids because of oversigning but you have noone who has actually claimed to have been cut. I disqualify your examples because they are not supportive of the problem you claim.
And I don't believe it's ok because everyone does it. I've repeatedly said that I don't believe anyone is doing it but if they are, it is wrong. You are the one ignoring events when you see Saban cutting players but not Meyer. Apparently it is wrong to have 8-10 players leave over the summer after having oversigned, but perfectly fine to have a similar number leave before NSD to avoid being oversigned.
I would have no problem with this criticism if it was directed directly at cutting players - whether the coach oversigns or not, and you viewed these cuts the same at all schools. I would prefer though that you not just assume who is cut our not but rather go off of actual statements from the players, but I would settle for equal evaluation.

Please let me clarify before I get down-vote bombed. My point is not that OSU and Meyer are dirty (i truly don't believe that). Rather if there are players out there making these type of accusations against teams that don't oversign and treat their players right, why are there not so many more against Saban - who you would have us believe cuts 5-10 players a year?

similarly, if you honestly think Saban purges his roster because of his attrition, how do you not see the same in the actions of OSU's departures this past year? I just ask for intellectual honesty on the subject, something I about is difficult for us fans to do when dealing with rivalries and our teams.

Yep. I put something together that I called "my case against Notre Dame" and how they would get smoked. They didn't play anybody and were untested. Sort of like Miami against OSU. They played Rutgers and Louiseville. In the bowl game a Nebraska team that gave up 63 to Colorado in a 63-36 loss. You can schedule yourself a winning streak or season.

I just realized the last year of the bowl system as we know it (TEOTBSAWKI) 2013 will culminate in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl in Jan. 2014. Suddenly I had visions of Braxton Miller winning the B1G championship game and sporting a rose in his mouth while smiling for the flashbulbs ala Vince Young in 2005! The parallels don't end there though as we will be pitting the mobile quarterback up against Alabama's juggernaut of a team (USC) and it's pro-style offense, proven qb (leinart/mccarron) complete with hot gfs in the stands, high powered rushing attacks led by lacy/bush. The ND/'Bama NCG might have been the most anticipated/watched game since '05 but next year OSU/'Bama will be one for the ages.
p.s. Braxton runs it in for the winning touchdown!

There were comparisons of Notre Dame's uninspiring perfection to that of Ohio State's 14-0 run in 2002, which included wins over nine-win Texas Tech, 10-win Washington State, 10-win Michigan, nine-win* Penn State, 34-consecutive wins Miami and yes it was easily the laziest narrative of the entire college football season, which is perfect for nearly every favorable narrative applied to Notre Dame football over the past two decades.